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SCC students make musical memories

”The theme through it all was the value of growing together as a team and making something happen to make it a show to remember,” said co-director Roxi Wakeen of the St. Croix Central High School’s production of <I>Disney’s High School Musical.<I>

Shows took place Oct. 26 at 2 and 7 p.m. and Oct. 27 at 2 p.m.

This was the first year a show was performed in the open commons area at the high school. Wakeen and co-director Sharon Freitag said at the dress rehearsal that the stacked ceiling of the area is really good for acoustics and allows the singers to be heard well.

Kayla Boyd starred as Gabriella Montez, who falls for Troy Bolton, a school basketball star played by Mitchell Donahue, when they meet on a ski trip. Camille Budrow also starred in the role of Sharpay Evans, who competes against Bolton and Montez while trying out for their high school musical.

Wakeen said the first show had the smallest audience with 115 people, but that Sunday’s audience had 280 attendees.

“The Saturday night performance was the kids’ best,” Wakeen said. “The evening ambiance added a great deal to transport us out of the cafeteria.The audience was more willing to clap and laugh.”

Wakeen went on to say: “The Sunday show carried the most emotional impact and largest number--280 seats sold. The kids in the crowd loved singing and dancing in the finale.”

The audience especially liked the scene where Ms. Darbus’ (played by Haley Boles) class had to act like animals and Justin Albright (playing a monkey) picked imaginary bugs off a child in the crowd, Wakeen said. Another hit was when Sharpay got hit in the face with whipped cream cake.

“The storyline was captured well and the soloists really gave the crowd their ticket value,” Wakeen said.

Wakeen said one of her favorite parts of directing was watching how the cast and crew took care of each other backstage.

“Our senior leadership, cooperation and character charisma made the show a success in my book,” Wakeen said.

She also credits Boles for an excellent job doing the makeup and Jeanne Larson for directing the band and special effects.

Wakeen is already looking forward to next year and said they will begin discussing options for the next show in a couple weeks.

“I value the memories these students gave me about how important the theatre is for them,” Wakeen said.

Sarah J. Nigbor serves as a regional editor for RiverTown Multimedia, a position she began in April 2017. She joined RiverTown Multimedia in October 2013 as a news reporter for the New Richmond News, before being appointed editor of the Pierce County Herald in Febraury 2015. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Spanish and French in 2001. She completed a minor in journalism in 2004.